


solidify the echoes

by ADreamingSongbird



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Missing Scene, Romantic Fluff, after episode 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 10:32:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9487334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADreamingSongbird/pseuds/ADreamingSongbird
Summary: Viktor opens his eyes—blue, so blue—and looks directly into Yuuri’s.  “Yuuri,” he says, quiet but almost terrifyingly intense.  “Yuuri, I think… I think I’m in love with you, and I’m terrified.”(Or, Yuuri wants to know if that kiss on the rink meant anything, and Viktor really hopes it did.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> I was given the prompt "I think I'm in love with you and I'm terrified" on tumblr, and since this kind of got a little longer than a <1k drabble, it came to AO3. My apologies if there are mistakes - I attempted to edit, but it is also almost three in the morning, so I guess I should put some kind of disclaimer there.

Steam curls around the bathroom door and out into the hotel room as Yuuri opens the door, freshly scrubbed clean from a long shower, garbed in cozy pajama pants and an old T-shirt, and feeling very warm, content, and tired.  Rather like a piece of steamed broccoli, really.  After everything that happened today at the Cup of China, he’s very ready for sleep.

Sleep, in his hotel room, which has an adjoining door leading to Viktor’s room, which has Viktor in it.

Viktor, who _kissed him_ on _international television_ today.

…Psych!  Did he say he was ready to sleep?  Ha!  Hilarious!  That’s the best joke he’s made this entire season! 

He’s so not ready for sleep.

With a drawn-out groan into his hands, Yuuri lets his towel fall from his hair to his shoulders and squints around the room (he’s about to get into bed and _try_ to sleep, so there’s no point in putting his glasses back on) until he spots his phone, sitting on the desk.  Luckily, it still has some battery, even though he didn’t remember to plug it in before going to take his shower.

[00:19] yuuri-katsudon  
phichit are you awake

By the time he ambles over to the bed and plugs his phone into his charger, which he kept on the nightstand so his phone could be his alarm clock this morning, Phichit has already texted back.  Phichit, of course, is glued to his phone and Yuuri is no longer _surprised_ by this behavior, after years of living together, but it still makes him sigh fondly and shake his head as he sits down on the bed to text his friend.  He needs _help_.

[00:20] phichit+chu:  
yeah ofc!!! im not even in pajamas yet rip me  
whats up?? wanna come hang out and chat?  
i feel like u owe me some ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) juicy ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) details ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[00:21] yuuri-katsudon:  
blocked

[00:21] phichit+chu:  
</3   
yuuri why dont u love me anymore

[00:22] yuuri-katsudon:  
i still love you!!!  
just… calm down with the lenny faces…

[00:22] phichit+chu:  
ok fine. last one i swear.  
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
ok now theyre out of my system

[00:23] yuuri-katsudon:  
good.

[00:23] phichit+chu:  
;)

[00:24] yuuri-katsudon:  
do NOT

[00:24] phichit+chu:  
the only way to stop me is to give me the deets yuuri

[00:25] yuuri-katsudon:  
…………………um. you will have to be more specific than that?

[00:25] phichit+chu:  
DON’T U PLAY COY W/ ME YUURI KATSUKI WE ALL SAW THAT  
HOW LONG HAVE U BEEN KISSING VIKTOR NIKIFOROV????????   
HOW LONG HAVE U BEEN KEEPING SECRETS FROM ME </3 </3 </3

[00:26] yuuri-katsudon:  
omg phichit no  
nonononono   
no you got it wrong see   
um

[00:27] phichit+chu:  
“um”…?

[00:28] yuuri-katsudon:  
i never kissed him before today  
and he never kissed me before today  
that was a first

[00:28] phichit+chu:  
hOLy sHit  
THAT was the first time u guys ever kissed????  
holy shiiiit

[00:29] yuuri-katsudon:  
please don’t tell everyone!!!! i don’t really… know what’s going on yet?

[00:29] phichit+chu:  
yuuri are you telling me u havent TALKED 2 him abt it yet?????

[00:30] yuuri-katsudon:  
……i might be telling you that, yes

[00:30] phichit+chu:  
are. are u planning on it  
bc i feel like that’s something u should do. yknow. maybe.

[00:31] yuuri-katsudon:  
i know!!!! i just… aaaaaaa

[00:31] phichit+chu:  
nerves? :(

[00:31] yuuri-katsudon:  
yeah.

[00:32] phichit+chu:  
hes not making u uncomfortable is he? do i need to kick his ass? bc i will

[00:32] yuuri-katsudon:  
no no no he hasn’t done anything that would warrant an ass kicking  
its mostly that i don’t really know how to start that conversation you know??  
i cant just walk in there and say “hey viktor you kissed me earlier, what was up with that”

[00:33] phichit+chu:  
…actually? yes. yes you can. and also u should

[00:33] yuuri-katsudon:  
?????????? no???  
i don’t even know if he’s still awake!!!

[0:35] yuuri-katsudon:  
phichit?

[00:36] phichit+chu:  
he’s awake!

[00:36] yuuri-katsudon:  
what did you do

[00:37] phichit+chu:  
nothing!!!!

[00:37] yuuri-katsudon:  
i don’t believe you!!!!

[00:37] phichit+chu:  
ok all i did was ask if he was awake and then tell him he should talk to u

Before Yuuri can hit send on his reply (which, by the way, is simply a string of “????” and “why!!!!!” and similar emotions), there’s a knock on their adjoining door.  The tiredness falls from his shoulders, suddenly, as he stares at the knob as if it’ll open on its own, before he’s ready for it.

“Yuuri?”  Viktor’s voice is muffled by the wood, but it still sends a little thrill of anxiety thrumming up and down Yuuri’s spine, from head to toe, as if he was just drenched in icy water.  He pushes it away as fast as he can, but the worry remains in the pit of his stomach— _he’s going to apologize, he’s going to say he shouldn’t have and he didn’t mean anything by it, he’s going to laugh at me for thinking anything otherwise_ —as Viktor continues.  “Are you still awake?  Perhaps we could talk for a moment?”

“I’m awake,” he calls back, taking just a moment to send Phichit a “ _ohmygod here goes nothing”_ before putting his phone aside and rolling off the bed.  He pads across the carpeted floor, takes a deep breath, and slides back the bolt to open the door.

Viktor is in cozy clothes too, instead of his coach attire from the day, and as always, seeing him in a fluffy robe instead of actual clothes makes him look more … endearingly _real_.  His hair isn’t perfectly combed either, instead kind of messy like he was lying down or running his hands through it or something, and the rumpled effect plus that little smile on his face makes Yuuri just think he looks soft and welcoming and warm, instead of cool and calm and collected and—

“You wanted to talk?” he asks, a little breathless, as he steps aside to let Viktor into his room.  “About, ah, about what?”

Viktor gives him a discerning look.  “What do you think I want to talk about?”

_You kissed me on international television and then said it was to surprise me and I don’t know whether that means you wanted to surprise me by kissing me or you wanted to surprise me by admitting that you_ want _to kiss me, and I’ve been overthinking it for the past several hours to be honest, but I’m pretty sure if I admit just how badly I’ve been overthinking it I’ll feel like such an idiot.  You kissed me on international television and I don’t know what to think._

“Um.”

_No!  No!!!  That wasn’t an answer to the question!!!_

Viktor laughs softly.  He runs a hand through his hair, and Yuuri swallows hard, because _he_ wants to run his fingers through Viktor’s hair (it’s soft, he knows it’s soft because Viktor is normally so physically affectionate and he’s felt that hair against his cheek plenty of times before).  “Is that supposed to mean you don’t know, or you don’t want to say?”

“It means,” Yuuri says, and then licks his lips nervously, “I have an idea, but I’m, um, not sure, and I would be more comfortable if you just told me what you want to talk about instead of me guessing at it?”

Viktor sighs.  “That’s fair,” he says, and sinks down on Yuuri’s bed.  He settles back against the headboard with another sigh, closing his eyes and leaning his head back for a moment, and he is so unfairly attractive even in a robe and with messy hair that Yuuri has to remind himself that this is the same man who complained for an hour about the sand that wouldn’t get out of his hair after a long walk on the beach.

Yuuri sits down, too, perching on the edge of the bed with his hands folded in his lap.

“…So?” he asks after a moment.  “What is it?”

Viktor lets out a slow, deep breath.  He doesn’t open his eyes, but he reaches out toward Yuuri, who stares at his outstretched hand for a moment before tentatively placing his own in it.  Viktor’s hands are always warm.  He says it’s because he’s Russian, and Russians have to be warm to survive those winters.

Viktor squeezes his hand and smiles slightly.  Yuuri squeezes back, wondering when he’s just going to come out and say it, whatever _it_ may be (no, anxiety, he probably isn’t going to say that he hates you, now _please_ stop with the internal screaming), and slowly shifts a little closer, so they can both lay their arms down on the bed instead of having to hold them up to reach each other.

“Forgive me,” Viktor suddenly says.  “I’m trying my best to figure out how to tell you this, but none of the options I think of are any good.”

“That’s… that’s okay,” Yuuri mumbles. “You can tell me however is easiest for you.  I won’t be upset.”

“You might be,” Viktor murmurs, and Yuuri’s heart sinks.  Here it comes, then.

Viktor opens his eyes—blue, so blue—and looks directly into Yuuri’s.  “Yuuri,” he says, quiet but almost terrifyingly intense.  “Yuuri, I think… I think I’m in love with you, and I’m terrified.”

The words fall like stones tossed into a deep well.  _Plink, plink, plink._

And just like stones tossed into a deep well, they take a moment to fall and to settle before the echoes come rippling up the walls, soft but audible.  Yuuri hears himself take in a sharp breath and finds that he doesn’t know which words to use it on.

“Um,” he says again, and stifles a groan.  “W-why?”

Viktor looks… uncertain.  Vulnerable.  Almost _afraid_ , even.  Yuuri squeezes his hand reassuringly and wracks his brain to figure out how to assure him it’s okay, it’s okay, when Yuuri still doesn’t really know what he means.  Why is he afraid?

Viktor, apparently, misinterprets the question.  “What do you mean, _why_?” he asks, brows knitting together.  “Why _wouldn’t_ I be in love with you?  Yuuri, you’re incredible!  I—you—looking at you inspires me to be a better person, and—”

“No, no, no!”  Yuuri cuts him off quickly, shaking his head and hiding his blushing face because _oh god did Viktor just say that about_ him _of all people_.  “I—I meant, um, why is that… a bad thing?”

He shifts on the bed again, scooting a little closer, until he’s near enough that their arms are pressed together between them, hands still clasped together.  Then, uncertain but giving into impulse anyway, he tentatively lays his head on Viktor’s shoulder.  Viktor lets out a shuddering breath.

“It doesn’t _have_ to be a bad thing,” he says, very very quietly.

“But you’re scared of it?” Yuuri asks softly.  Viktor squeezes his hand, thumb stroking over his knuckles, and Yuuri squeezes back again, if only because he wants to make it very clear that he wants this, wants to hold hands and snuggle and, um, possibly kiss again, if that’s an option still on the table.  He’s still kind of reeling from earlier.  Viktor _kissed him._

“I’m not scared of you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Viktor says dryly.  Then he pauses, sighs again, and shakes his head slightly.  “I’m—I’ve never—I’m not good at people, Yuuri.  I’m afraid that I might hurt you.  I already did, earlier today, after all!  I made you cry!”

“To be fair,” Yuuri mutters, “that’s not really hard to do…”

Viktor doesn’t sound very amused.  “That’s not my point, Yuuri.”

“I know,” Yuuri says.  “Sorry.  Go on.”

Viktor just shrugs.  “I don’t know what to tell you,” he says honestly.  Yuuri feels his fatigue hammering away at his inhibitions, because it seems like a nice idea to snuggle closer against his side instead of pulling away, and he can’t think of the usual list of reasons why he shouldn’t do that, so he nestles a little closer.  Viktor’s fluffy robe is soft under his cheek, and Viktor’s hand in his is still pleasantly warm—not hot enough to be sweaty, thankfully, but just warm—and oh, god, Yuuri really, really, _really_ likes him.

“You can tell me anything you want to, or if you don’t want to say something, you don’t have to,” Yuuri mumbles, letting his eyes close just for a moment.  “What do … what do you want out of this?  Out of us?”

Viktor takes a deep breath.  It’s a mark of how sincere he’s being, how concerned about this he is, that he doesn’t fuss or coo or make a big deal out of Yuuri snuggling against him.  He sounds troubled when he finally does speak up, with a quiet “I… I don’t know, Yuuri.  I want—I want to make you happy.  I don’t know—I just don’t know what’s the best way I should do that.”

_I want to make you happy_.  The words coil into a lump of pleasant warmth that settles into Yuuri’s core like a drop of sunshine, keeping him warm from the inside out.

“You could start by asking me what I think about, um, _us_ ,” Yuuri suggests, pointedly but with no rancor.  Viktor is being honest and showing his vulnerabilities and his fears, and Yuuri really appreciates that—it means a _lot_.  So he’s going to do his best to meet him halfway and to work with him so they can both be happy.

 “See, there, I did something stupid again,” Viktor sighs.  He runs his free hand through his hair again, frazzled and distracted, and Yuuri tentatively tries the thumb-rubbing thing on their joined hands.  “I didn’t ask you outright from the start.  Perhaps I should have just—ah, but here I go again.  What _do_ you think, Yuuri?”

Viktor squeezes his hand in a silent thanks.  Yuuri wonders if that’s what bolsters him into being able to say “I think, um, you made me really happy.  Earlier.  You know.  On the ice.  When you kissed me,” without spontaneously combusting or otherwise freaking out.  He kind of wants to text Phichit to say _guess what I managed to say out loud on the first try without running away_ , except that he knows that would _kind of_ ruin the moment.  They _are_ trying to have a real conversation here, after all.

“Did I?” Viktor asks pensively. “Hm.”

“I also think,” Yuuri adds, glad for his earlier impulsive tired decision to snuggle close because now it means he doesn’t have to maintain eye contact, “that if you wanted to, I’d … I’d like to _try_ being together.  As a couple, I mean.  That would also make me happy.”

Viktor is quiet for a moment.  Then he lets go of Yuuri’s hand, rather abruptly, and Yuuri finds himself rather less full of warm content feelings as a stab of fear jolts through him—what did he say wrong, should he have not said that?  He shouldn’t have said that!—but then Viktor wraps his arms around him.

“Come here, Yuuri.  I want to hold you,” he mutters, and Yuuri lets him pull him close, settling him between his legs and hugging him tightly.  Viktor mumbles something inaudible into Yuuri’s hair, and Yuuri sighs, relaxing in his arms again and wrapping one of his around Viktor’s waist as best as he can.  The other hand rests on Viktor’s chest, right by Yuuri’s head, above Viktor’s heart.  He can feel it beating. _Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump_.

Viktor presses a kiss into Yuuri’s hair.  Yuuri smiles, letting his eyes slip closed again.

“I should let you sleep, shouldn’t I?” Viktor asks.  He sounds _happy_ , and that makes Yuuri’s heart flutter in all sorts of ways.  “I’m sorry.  We could have had this talk tomorrow, with you more rested.”

“I don’t mind,” Yuuri says softly.  “I’m glad we did it sooner than later.  I would have been worrying about it the entire time until we did talk, otherwise.  But—we’re not _done_ talking, are we?”

“No,” Viktor says.  “I suppose not.  So—you want to try dating?”

He says it so casually, like it isn’t the absolute biggest deal in the world that as soon as he says yes, Yuuri is going to be dating _Viktor Nikiforov_ , living legend but more importantly his coach and friend and confidant.  It’s funny—if someone had told him a year ago that he would one day be in a hotel room in China cuddling with Viktor Nikiforov, would have been kissed (on international television!) by Viktor Nikiforov, would have the option of dating Viktor Nikiforov?  He probably would have laughed in their face and then told them to please stop teasing him.

But…

It's different now.  Viktor isn’t some high, unattainable goal on an impossibly distant pedestal.  They’re _friends_ now.  And sure, Yuuri still sometimes catches himself marveling that this is all real, that his childhood idol has made a place in his life like this, but then he walks into the next room and finds said idol baby-talking to his dog, and that tends to push aside the illusion of grandeur. 

Besides, Yuuri likes silly, fun-loving, excitable Viktor a lot more than distant, idealized, fake-smiles-all-the-time Viktor.  He’s learned to see the difference.

“I do want to try, if you’re okay with it,” Yuuri confirms. “I—I mean, I really like you, too, and I—I think we could make it work!”

Viktor’s hand slides up his back and slips up his neck, too, sending a shiver down Yuuri’s spine as Viktor starts to thread his fingers through his still-damp hair.  It feels _really_ nice, the motion slow and repetitive and sweet like thick honey, and Yuuri is kind of afraid it’ll put him to sleep before they finish talking.

“You think so?” Viktor asks thoughtfully, and his voice sounds low and sweet like honey too, and it’s not _fair_ that with some soft words and softer touches he can have Yuuri practically swooning on the inside.  Not fair, not fair at all!

“Yeah,” Yuuri mumbles, keeping his eyes closed because that makes it easier to focus on the sensation of Viktor’s fingers in his hair. 

(Does Viktor know he does this to him?  Yuuri kind of hopes so, because it would just be kind of sad if he doesn’t even realize Yuuri is putty in his hands at this point, but on the other hand that’s _embarrassing_ , so he also kind of hopes Viktor is clueless.  He’s not sure which of these options is more likely at this point, which probably doesn’t help his lack of ability to figure out which one is less appealing.)

To distract himself, he shakes his head a little and adds, “I mean, I think we’re kind of self-aware already, right?  I know I have anxiety and you know you don’t have much experience handling emotional stuff, so… that tells us we should pay attention to communication and stuff like that, I guess?” 

“True,” Viktor muses.  Then he pauses, his hand going still, and when he speaks again Yuuri can hear the smile in his voice.  “Yu-uri,” he sing-songs, “are you falling asleep on me?”

“No,” Yuuri protests weakly.  It’s kind of hard to argue when he sort of _is_ falling asleep, but he doesn’t have to admit that when called out on it!  “Just… resting.”

“You do need your rest after today,” Viktor says.  “I should let you sleep now.  What kind of boyfriend would I be, keeping you up too late the night after a competition?”

_Boyfriend._

Yuuri is not half-asleep anymore.

Suddenly he’s very, very aware that he’s curled up with his head on Viktor’s chest, one of his arms is loosely wrapped around Viktor’s waist, and his other hand is on Viktor’s chest, too, and it’s _really comfortable_ and he doesn’t want to move.  He can feel the rise and fall of Viktor’s chest as he breathes, slow and relaxed, and Viktor’s arms around him are warm and heavy, and everything about this is really, _really_ nice, and—and… and he has a _boyfriend_.

A sudden realization hits him then.  Phichit thought, earlier, that they must have been together for a while, because he had no context, and _wow guess who else had no context?_

Suddenly the three missed calls from home earlier, while they were all out celebrating, make sense.  He’d replied by messaging his mother to say _sorry, I’m out with everyone, I’ll call back either later tonight or tomorrow morning!_ and she had answered with a wish for him to have a good night and to call tomorrow because they were going to bed soon…

How.

How did he not put it together that of _course_ they—they saw everything on the broadcast—they probably knew he’d be coming home with a boyfriend before he did himself!

“Yuuri?” Viktor asks.  “You got kind of tense all of a sudden.  Are you alright?”

“Um,” Yuuri squeaks out, sounding a little bit strangled even to his own ears.  “I just—I just realized.”  He swallows.  “My family was watching.  Earlier, I mean.”

“Earlier?” Viktor repeats, and then realization hits him, too, but he doesn’t freeze.  He just chuckles softly, and that hand starts stroking Yuuri’s hair again.  “Ah.  Well.  I guess it was a surprise not only for you, but for the whole family, hm?”

“What is it with you and surprises,” Yuuri sighs, feeling a smile creep onto his face despite himself.

“They make life more _fun_!” Viktor exclaims.  Then he nuzzles his face into Yuuri’s hair, and Yuuri freezes all over again, but for entirely different reasons this time.  “ _You_ ,” Viktor murmurs, “are the best surprise of my life.”

“Stop that,” Yuuri mumbles, once again very glad (very, very, very glad) that Viktor can’t see how hard he’s blushing from this angle.  “That’s so sappy, we literally _just_ started d-dating, oh my god…”

Viktor laughs softly.  “Silly Yuuri,” he says, and his voice has gone back to low-and-sweet-and-gentle again.  “It was true even before today.  It would be true even if you hadn’t said that you want to be my boyfriend.  I would have been content with just being your friend, if it meant I got to keep you in my life.”

“Oh,” Yuuri says quietly.  He takes a moment, face pressed against Viktor’s chest, and then tilts his head up, peeping up at him hesitantly.  Viktor smiles down at him, encouraging and gentle.  “I, um… I’m really glad to have you in my life, too.”

“Oh, I know.  You told the entire world when you announced your program theme!” Viktor says breezily, and laughs, and just like that he throws the sappy mood out the window.  Yuuri considers smacking him with a pillow, but doesn’t, because that would require moving.  He settles for rolling his eyes instead.

“That’s what I get for trying to be mushy back at you,” he huffs.  “Don’t expect me to save you if Mari decides to give you the shovel talk, then.”

Viktor blinks.  “What, you think she would?”

“She might,” Yuuri shrugs.  “You never know.  Maybe surprises run in my family.  She did once threaten to beat up some kids at school when they were bullying me, so…”

“Did she follow through?”

Yuuri snorts.  “She was older and bigger.  They backed off.”

“I see,” says Viktor.  “I’ll, ah, keep that in mind.  Are you _sure_ you wouldn’t rescue me?  It would be dreadfully romantic, Yuuri.”  His voice has that teasing lilt in it again, and when Yuuri glances up at him again, he’s grinning.

“You’d ask me to choose between siding with my sister and my boyfriend?  Viktor, that’s just cruel,” he answers.  “Especially when my sister would only be attacking you for the sake of my honor.  I think that’s just not a fair choice for me to make.  I would have to sit out.  Makkachin and I could split some popcorn and watch!”

Viktor lets out a peal of delighted laughter and gives Yuuri a tight squeeze.  “Yuuri!” he croons, affectionately nuzzling the top of Yuuri’s head again, and Yuuri just takes it in stride, as much as he can while bewildered that this is Viktor’s response to being told that Yuuri would steal his dog and watch his sister beat him up.  “This is why I fell in love with you!”

“…Because I threaten to leave you at my sister’s mercy if you tease when I try to be as cheesy as you are?” Yuuri asks, wrinkling his nose and focusing on the weird part of this so that he doesn’t implode about the casual _I fell in love with you_ , and Viktor laughs again.

“No, silly,” he says.  “No, you make me laugh!  I like you because you make me really, really happy.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Yuuri complains.  “If I say something cheesy back, you’ll just laugh at me again.”

“I promise I won’t,” Viktor says, smiling warmly now.  “Go ahead and be as mushy and sweet as your heart desires, my Yuuri.”

“My heart,” Yuuri tells him, “no longer desires to be mushy.”

“Ouch,” Viktor says with a definite trace of amusement.  “I suppose that means your heart is saying I should get going and let you sleep, yes?”

Yuuri hesitates.  “That’s not what I said…”

Sleep, yes.  Sleep sounds nice.  Viktor going, on the other hand, sounds notably less nice.  What can he say?  Lying together like this, with Viktor’s hand stroking his hair and Viktor’s heartbeat beneath his head, is really soothing and soft and pleasant, and Yuuri finds himself not wanting to let this moment go.

“Why, Yuuri, are you suggesting you’d like me to sleep with you?”  Viktor waggles his eyebrows and grins that big, stupid, goofy grin.  Yuuri stares at him for a second, debating whether the effort of moving is worth it or not (it is, in this case), and then groans and props himself up on one arm.  As Viktor looks on, nonplussed, Yuuri grabs the nearest pillow and smacks him with it.

“Not like _that!_   Haven’t you ever heard of romancing someone _properly?_ ” he huffs, well aware that he’s going red in the face but unwilling to back down now that he’s gone and put his foot in his mouth.  “Save that for later!  Are you getting all your romantic advice from Christophe or something? This is the _first_ date, if we can even call it that!”

Viktor blinks.  Honestly, he looks a little ridiculous, with that comically confused expression and his hopelessly mussed hair and his fluffy, soft robe, and Yuuri just stares up at him until maybe his tiredness once again gives his inhibitions the boot, and he starts to laugh.

“What?” Viktor demands. “What’s funny, did I do something?  Yuuri, why are you laughing at me?”

“I don’t know!” Yuuri says helplessly, burying his face in Viktor’s chest again.  “You’re—I guess I’m just happy.”

Viktor gasps softly.  “Yuuri!” he coos.  “You said something sweet!”

“Never doing it again if you react like _that_ every time,” Yuuri mutters into his chest.  This robe smells like Viktor.  Which isn’t exactly _surprising_ , considering who exactly is wearing it, but the fact reasserts itself in his mind and he consciously has to suppress an embarrassed squeak.

“If you’re wondering how I react ‘every time’, that means you’re planning on saying sweet things multiple times in the future,” Viktor observes, with just a tad of smugness.  Yuuri considers smacking him again.

“I already said I want to date you,” he huffs instead, turning his head to the side just enough that it’s easier to breathe than having his face planted directly into Viktor’s robe.  “That should have implied that I like you and will want to tell you that I like you plenty of times enough already.  And—and if you’re about to say how sweet, or anything like that, you can just go back to your room and let me sleep alone!”

Viktor chuckles softly.  Then he pauses, and when he speaks again, his voice is less jovial, more serious than before.  “Yuuri?”

Yuuri picks his head up and looks at him.  “Mm?”

“You… will tell me if I accidentally tease you too much, or say something that upsets you, right?”  Viktor isn’t quite looking at him, instead focusing on tracing his finger along Yuuri’s jaw and down his neck to his shoulder.  It makes Yuuri shiver.

“I’ll tell you,” Yuuri promises.  “Isn’t that what good communication means?”

Viktor smiles slightly.  “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

Silence falls for a few long, slow, lazy moments.  Yuuri lays his head back down and closes his eyes, while Viktor’s hand slides back to his hair, slowly lulling him closer and closer to sleep.

Then Yuuri’s phone buzzes.  Loudly, too, because of the wooden table it’s sitting on.  It’s enough to jerk him out of his light doze.

“Can you see who that is?” he asks, squinting at the screen.

Viktor cranes his neck and peers over.  “Phichit,” he reports.  “Shall I reply for you?”

“Let me see,” Yuuri says quickly.  There is a definite possibility that it’ll just be more weird Lenny faces or something even more embarrassing, and he’d rather not deal with that on top of the fact that he has a brand-new, world-famous, silly and endearing boyfriend who keeps teasing him and then being unfairly cute and/or attractive.  He’s got plenty of things on his plate already, without Viktor having to see Phichit’s teasing.  Imagining the horror of _what if they ganged up on me_ is almost enough to make Yuuri shiver.

Viktor leans over, grabs the phone, and passes it over to Yuuri.  The cord barely reaches, but it works.

[01:03] phichit+chu:  
sooooo…? hows it going, everything ok?

[01:04] yuuri-katsudon:  
phichit!!! guess what

[01:04] phichit+chu:  
omg what

[01:05] yuuri-katsudon:  
i have a boyfriend now :D

[01:05] phichit+chu:  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
CAN I TELL EVERYONE  
OR DO U WANT TO DO THAT

“I could do it,” Viktor hums, and Yuuri realizes belatedly that he was reading over his shoulder.  He stares at the _:D_ that he just sent to Phichit and flushes.  “I could take a selfie of us just like this and use that as our official announcement picture!”

“I’m pretty sure everyone already thinks we’re dating anyway,” Yuuri points out sleepily.  “They were all watching, you know.”

[01:06] yuuri-katsudon:  
viktor says he wants to do it  
also its not happening tonight im too sleepy this is happening like tomorrow or something

[01:06] phichit+chu:  
oh he’s there too? hiiii yuuri’s boyfriend!  
im changing his name in my phone to “yuuri’s bae” rn btw. it’s a promotion from ‘viktor nikiforov’

[01:07] yuuri-katsudon:  
phichit oh my god stop.

[01:07] phichit+chu:   
you’re half asleep you can’t stop me  
go to bed! don’t you have a flight to catch soon?

[01:08] yuuri-katsudon:  
i am in bed.

[01:08] phichit+chu:  
youre in bed and viktors there with u???

[01:08] yuuri-katsudon:  
phichit i swear to god.

[01:09] phichit+chu:  
;)

“Yuuri,” Viktor says, while Yuuri puts his phone down on the bed in consternation.  “Yuuri, I left my phone in my room.  Tell Phichit I said I hope he changes my name in his phone to that, I like it!  I should introduce myself as your boyfriend from now on!”

“I’m not awake enough for this,” Yuuri moans.  “Turn the lamp off, please, _boyfriend_ , we’re going to sleep.”

[01:10] yuuri-katsudon:  
goodbye!!!!   
no but really im gonna sleep now, good night <3

[01:10] phichit+chu:  
good night yuuri, sleep well!! ;) <3

Viktor laughs.  “Before I turn the lamp off, let’s at least get under the blanket,” he suggests, and Yuuri supposes that that’s a reasonable suggestion.  Fine.

“Okay,” he sighs, and because it isn’t really that fair to expect Viktor to do _all_ the repositioning for them (however tempting that may be), he sits up, scoots up the bed, and wriggles under the tightly-tucked sheets.  Then he rolls over and puts his phone on the nightstand again, picks it up and double checks that he set an alarm for the morning, and puts it away again.  By this point, Viktor has gotten under the covers too, and he’s just waiting with his hand resting on the switch for the lamp.

“Shall I?” he asks, and Yuuri nods, stifling a yawn.

“Yes, please.”

_Click_.  The room is plunged into darkness, and Yuuri contentedly closes his eyes.  There’s the quiet sound of rustling sheets next to him, and then Viktor’s arm wraps around his waist, pulling him close again.  Warm and solid, not like echoes from stones in a well anymore.  Something real, concrete and comforting.  

“Yuuri…”

“Mmm?”

“I’m proud of you.  You did well today.  And I’m glad we… had this talk now.  Good night, solnyshko.”

A smile curves Yuuri’s lips as he settles against Viktor’s chest, humming a soft mumble that can’t even pretend to have been words.  It’s more of an acknowledgment that he heard Viktor than anything else, and Viktor chuckles and kisses his forehead softly, sending a lazy burst of warmth spreading through Yuuri’s body.

What was that last thing Viktor said?  It’s a Russian word, Yuuri thinks hazily.  He’ll have to remember to ask Viktor what that means, in the morning.

(He’s looking forward to the morning.)


End file.
